The End of an Era
by supernova22
Summary: After the Unicron Battles and death of Galvatron, the surviving Decepticons contemplate their future. Set between the Armada and Energon series'.


**please comment and review, i love feedback**

Things would never be the same. Atop the roof of Darkmount, the former command center of the decepticon army, the last of Galvatrons elite stood silently. Demolishor, cyclonus, wheeljack and tidal wave no longer knew what the future held for them. It had been 6 months since the defeat of unicron and the death of the leader of the decepticons, galavtron. They all believed in him and his vision of conquest. This was the first time they realized that would never be a reality. What was once a deiplay table for battle plans now held 3 cups of energon oil and a large barrel for the larger tidal wave.

Optimus prime had recently been found alive and taken command of all of cybertron. In honor of galvatrons sacrifice, he declared that all but the worst of the decepticons would be forgiven and accepted to work with them moving forward. Some were treated as equals, others, like themselves, seemed to be given less hospitality. They felt like second class citizens. They knew there was no hope of restarting the war and at the least the autobots were willing to forgive most of their conflict.

The group had been periodically reminiscing on past escapades in between silent drinks of their energon. Demolishor had his back to the table and stared silently out across the horizon, brooding. The fortress of darkmount was the last remnant of galvatrons legacy. The rest of the decepticons and their territory and resources had already been absorbed by the autobots. Per their request, prime agreed to leave the fortress be, standing as a heaven for those not ready to accept the social change. This of course was just a façade so the decepticons could just hold tight to one shred of their former selves.

"maybe peace won't be that terrible" cyclonus shrugged with mock optimism

Tidal wave simply grunted in agreement.

"I suppose, but I a'int wearing no autobot badge. That aint what I fought for!" demolishor spun around.

"no one is saying you have to. Prime said we were free to wear them still if we choose" wheeljack spoke up

"I don't need his permission!" demolishor growled

"well, you know how you'll bet treated then right?"

"I don't care what they think. I am a decepticon, and I'll never be ashamed of it. Never!"

"cheers buddy" cyclonus grinned

The four all drank again.

"and what of you, are you going to be flying the red flag again?" cyclonus turned to whelljack.

"no. I hate to say this to you all now but I was loyal to megatron, not to the decepticons"

The other three cons glared at him intently, curious at what would be said next.

"I'v spent time in both armies and neither I truly find a worthy cause. I plan on leaving cybertron"

"to do what?" tidal wave piped up in a bellow

"I don't know. I guess I'll find out when I get out there among the stars"

"well power to ya'" cyclonus cheered

"and you all?" he asked

The others looked about silently for a minute not sure how to answer.

"tidal wave will do as galvatron commanded"

"tidal wave?"

"galvatron commanded the decepticons to work with the autobots. His last command to us. That is what tidal wave shall do"

The words hung heavy in the air. Though it was only to stop unicron, that was what he had ordered of them, and according to the account of optimus prime, galavtron gave his life to end the war and thus unicron. Logically, tidal wave was correct in his assumption. Still, the idea of knuckling under their former enemies left a bad taste in their mouths. Cyclonus, reserved and humorless for once, turned to his close friend, who was far more dedicated and wise them him.

"demolishor old buddy, what do you think?"

The tank bot looked down for a few seconds then looked back up.

"I think…I want my old color scheme back" he frowned

After a few moments of silence, the four broke out into laughter over the comment.

"I get you buddy, look at that, all that red, you look like an autobot" cyclonus cackled

"I know right"

"so ugly" tidal wave smirked

"haha, there was this cranky old veteran bot when I was an autobot. His name was armorhide or ironhide or something. You look just like. Oh, right there you even have the same scowl" wheeljack smirked

"oh scrap this, I'm definitely hitting the body shop later"

After the laughter died down the stinging of contemplative silence returned.

"you know what realy hurts to say? You know who I'm gonna actually miss…starscream" demolishor spoke up

"that attention craving traitor" cyclonus spat

"yes he was a pain and his voice was like scraplets singing but…we wouldn't be here without him"

"true, had it not been for him, for his sacrifice, galavtron may never have forged the alliance with optimus" wheeljack added

"oh that is scrap, we owe him nothing. Tidal wave you gotta agree right?"

Tidal wave was silent, looking down at the others when he raised his drink.

"starscream…was a true decepticon" he said flatly

"oh for the love of… your all incsane" cyclonus groaned

There was the sudden sound of a jet and streak that whizzed over the edge of the roof. It flew out wide and came about to transform and land adjacent to the other bots. The bot was nearly identical in build to the recently mentioned starscream. However, his colors were primarily purple and black, and his face bore a black face plate and a large fin atop his head. This was in fact skywarp, starscreams cousin, and a far less respected member of the decepticon army.

"speak of the devil" cyclonus moaned

"why are you here skywarp? I thought you had gone with the others to work with the autbots"

Demolishor had asked the question genuinely, but with a tinge of contempt as well towards the younger bots choice.

"easy guys, I didn't like working with the autobots either but it's the only option a lot of us have now. Besides, it's a little nice having a commander that doesn't beat or shoot at you" skywarp defended

The others all just glared at him. He squirmed nervously under their gaze for a moment before piping up again.

"optimus prime sent me with a message for you. Are you even going to listen or just blast me?"

The others looked amongst themselves briefly before turning back to him.

"what is the message?" wheeljack spoke first

"optimus prime wishes you to aid in a new project, a new future he calls it"

"what kind of project?" demolishor asked skeptical

Skywarp felt a bit more comfortable and approached them as if they were still comrades again. Like them he had also chosen to still wear his decepticon insignia with pride, especially in honor of starscream. He moved to stand between demolishor and tidal wave and the colossal con slid is drink for the jet to have, oblivious to his inability to lift it. The jet simply nodded thankfully and turned back to the others.

"the war is over but cybertron is still kinda messed up. The autobots are looking for energon, and they found it…on earth"

The other decepticons all groaned.

"oh slag not there, what is it about that planet. I am not going back" cyclonus whined

"well it's not just earth. They found energon all over the place. Planets, moons, asteroids."

"and they are just now discovering this" wheeljack wondering skeptically

"well with the war no one really had time to look"

"true" tidal wave growled

"so yeah, they are reforming the military into branches and building all these new colonies and mines on all these places to get the energon"

"so where do we come in? as miners, laborers; I don't think so" demolishor commented

"optimus prime asked if you would all be willing to join the project for added security"

The others all looked amongst themselves with mixed feeling on the decision. Wheeljack backed away from the table raising his hands in a surrender gesture before crossing them.

"hey I'm out and gone so this is all up to you guys" he admitted

"it is work" demolishor admitted weakly

"and security means we're allowed to shoot people" cyclonus smiled

"galavtron ordered us to work with autobots. Tidal wave will obey. Tidal wave will go"

"well I guess its decided then. To the end of our time"

The others all raised their cups, and wheeljack poured skywarp a regular sized one.

"what do we toast to; galavtron?" wheeljack asked

"starscream?" skywarp added

"energon?" tidal wave asked

"no more squid head thrust?" cyclone smiled

"to the decepticons" demolishor responded

"to the decepticons!" they all shouted to the stars


End file.
